Lamp and reflector therefor.



D. J. O'BRIEN.

LAMP AND REFLECTOR THEREFOR.

nruouxon nun 110110, 1903. nnnnwnn v.20, 1009.

Patented Oct. 25, 1910.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DENNIS JOSEPH O'BRIEN, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE AS- SIGNMENTS, TO STRAIGHT FILAME NT LAMP COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

LAMP AND REFLECTOR THEREFOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application tiled November 18, 1908, Serial 11o. 181,429. Renewed November 20, 1909. Serial No. 529,098.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, DENNIS JOSEPH OBRIEN, a. citizen of the United States, and a. resident. of the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented a new and useful Lamp and Reflector Therefor, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

The invention forming the subject-matter hereof relates to tubular lamps, particularly incandescent electric tube-lamps, and to means for producing manifold reflections of the light emitted thereby to the end that the same may be augmented and used to better advantage. It is the offspring of studious observation bearing on the structure and behavior of other types of lamps and reflectors, and as a superior production, is intended to take their place, as well as to supersede in a measure a prior device of mine disclosed in a pending application for Letters Patent of the lnited States. filed on the 20th day ,of April 1903. Serial Number 153541 (now Patent No. 744387. granted on the 17th of Xovember 1903).

An important object of the present invention is to provide a suitable reflector for use in combination with electric lamps which derive their current from peripheral contacts and not from the ends, thereby affording. the display of a continuous unbroken line of light which would be impossible where lamps having end sockets are employed. Thus the invention admits of .two or more lamps being placed end to end to produce a continuous lme of light and review, looking to the right, in the direction indicated by the arrow. Fig. 3 shows one lamp in side elevation and a reflector therefor in longitudinal section, adapted to each other in accordance with the invention. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view, showing fragmentary portions of the lamp and reflector, and the electrical connections at one end. Figs. 5 and 6 are diagrammatic representations, illustrating the adaptability of the invention to continuous lighting in any desired direction, angularly or circularly as well as in a straight line.

The principal elements of the invention consist of a tubular lamp whose ends and visible surface are Wholly uncovered, and a sectional reflector that is open-ended and composed of narrow reflecting surfaces parallel to the lamp and line of light. In the form shown herein, the said lamp comprises a tube a, of either clear or frosted -.glass, which'is exhausted of air and sealed to provide the customary vacuum chamber ,for an incandescent electric light. This tube contains the light-giving agent, preferably a carbon or carbonized filament b, stretched in asingle line lon itudinally of the tube and held centrally herein by yielding supports at the ends. such as spring-anchors c. The latter are conveniently made of light platinum wire plated or jointed to the ends of the filament b and rising from lateral glands d of the tube or lamp body, near the extremities thereof, Where they are sealed in and soldered to cone-shaped metallic contact-pieces e, exteriorly cemented to and covering said glands. Both contacts (1, it will be observed, are quite small and located for connection with an electric circuit rearwardly of the lamp, so that ordinarily the said contacts will not be seen. Barring these contacts and the aforementioned anchors, which can be treated as infinitesimal negligible quantities inasmuch as they are not discernible at a distance when the filament is aglow, there is absolutely no obstruction to the passage of the light from said filament through the sides and ends of Patented Oct. 25, 1910;

the lamp tube or body, which therefore befaculty of giving multiple images of the line of light in orderly grou )s. It consists of a segmental casing f, whic I may be made of tin, iron, brass, aluminum, or other suitable sheet-metal, and whose concave surface is divided into reflective parallelograms g, somewhat narrower'than the tube-lamp and nearly if not quite the same length. These parallelograms may be produced by breakmg or creasing the metal of the casing on parallel equidistant lines, as Fig. 5 for instance may suggest, or otherwise they'may be strips of mirror, or sections of porcelain or so-called white glass, embedded in said casing, as represented in Figs. 1, L, and 3. In any case the parallelograms are arranged at very-obtuse angles to one another, so that collectively they will form an almost perfect are of a circle, though individually they slightly project out of the arc, to which they are tangential. Vhen the sheet-metal alone is used, it is burnished on the inside or else nickeled to make it properly lustrous. As to the strips or sections of mirror, white glass or porcelain, they are set closely side by side Within the casing where they are confined by turning overthe edges of the latter inward and by soldering transverse retaining pieces, as 71., over them at the ends, which pieces are burned or punched'outof sheetmetal and are best seen in Fig. 3. Experience has taught that it is advisable so to inclose the-said strips or sections, that they -ing f. To the springs may not be readily removed and no repair of the reflector he attempted save by accredited orcompetent persons. In some cases it is well also to divide the group of sections into two equal series on each side of the innermost or middle section, or that which is to come directly under the tubelamp, this being accomplished by inserting two' dividing strips 17, of sheet-metal, between said central section and the sections adjoining it on each side. As seen in Figs. 2 and 3, these dividing strips stand on edge perpendicularly to the casing f and are secured by solder to the end pieces h. It is understood that they isolate the two series of strips, and if accidentally one be broken and the sections thereof become loose and disarranged, the other being separated therefrom will remain undisturbed and capable of, dischargin its functions with fairly good results-til the reflector can be taken 'up for repairs.

The above described lam and reflector are brought and kept toget or by placing the former between spring clamps j at a suitable focusin distance from the arallelograms g of t e latter, and throng said clamps, holding its cone-sha ed contacts e.

each within a spiral sprin seated in an insulator Z,.prov1ded at ea end of the eask are attached the wires m of the electric circuit, which wires one for each insulator.

can be soldered each to its respective spring and passed through and glued in a lateral aperture in the corresponding insulator, after the manner represented in Fig. 4. The insulators l may be of fiber, or glass, or orcelain, whichever may be preferred. .iach insulator is advantageously made in the shape of a tube, which is held endwise upon a saddle n, by a rivet 0, tightly fitted in its inner end and soldered to said saddle. Two such saddles of course are provided, These saddles are most easily made of sheet-metal and fastened by solder to the end pieces h and dividing strips 1', over and across the ends of the central section or parallelogram of the reflector. As above intimated, the spiral spring contact It occupies the outer end of the tubular insulator in each instance. and it is separated from the rivet 0 at the inner end thereof by an intermediate washer y), of insulating material, or else by leaving the insulator-tube unbored between the spring and rivet. The clamps j are best made of spring wire looped around the rivets 0 under the insulators l, thence closely drawn out at right angles to and from a solder connection with the saddles n, doubled and held together by clasps on the inner sides of said insulators, and finally branching outward fork-like above the latter in shape and position to receive and embrace the tube-lamp by its opposite endslaterally, as shown in Figs. 1 to 4. The forks of these clamps are given sufficient resiliency to grasp and securely hold lamps of various diameters, even in an inverted position, and so are the springs 70 in order that they may always reach and remain in touch with the thereto appertaining metallic cones e and thereby operate to maintain the lamp electrically in circuit. This construction, it -will be noticed, is compact. solid, and economical, and provides for the ready insertion and removal of the lamp and easy cleaning of the reflector.

Where but one reflector and lamp are used, for instance as a desk-light, or for lighting a single object, like a painting or plcture, the same may be mounted on, suspended from, or otherwise attached-to any convenient fixture, of which there are numerous varieties. When, on the other hand, they are connectedly em loyed in pairs or serles, for example in s ow-windows and show-cases or generally for purposes of'illumination, it is useful to provide each casing f with end flanges r, which afford a cheap and eflicient means of attachment to hol the several reflectors and lamps in their allotted places. A cou le of screws passed through a similar nu'm er of slots in each flange 1' will then usually sufiice to adjust each reflector and lamp and hold them intheir adjusted position.

his

The various figures of the drawing amply suggest how to connect, or group, two or more of the combined reflectors and lamps in order 'to obtain the best results and increased effects 'from the available light under different conditions. It will be seen that the invention favors close union endwise of the reflectors and lamps, whether by directlapping or mitering or curvilinear disposition, and there is preserved in each case that peculiar interrelation of parts which insures full and continuous li hting in the chosen direction,with secreted contacts free from the objectionable features hereinbefore pointed out.' It will be further noted that the invention is well adapted for both criternal and internal lighting, as the refleor can easily be so turned. as to either expose or conceal the lamp or source of light. 'lherefore the lamp may either be used for the light it can show, or it. may simply be employed for the illuminating power it affords. In the one. case itwill attract attention as a light, in a sign or in illumination; in the other case it will better suit the shrewd merchant., who, mindful of the fact that a li ht exposed will more or less distract. from other things, prefers to place it, as far as is practicable, out of sight and use it only to bring into view the goods he has to sell.

Although the reflector has been described and shown as a sectional reflector made up of a number of parallel reflective surfaces, it is not of the essence of the invention that it should'be so divided. Usually there will be a plurality of these reflective parallelorams, because, oftener than otherwise, the ight is utilized with the intention of getting from it all it can yield, but there are many instances when anything approaching a glare or decided intensity is not desirable and a subdued, moderately powerful, light is preferred. In the latter class of cases the reflector is made with a single reflective surface and only its parallelism with the lamp and line of light is maintained.

No claim Will be made herein to the broad idea of having the lam and reflector so constructed as to secure t e aforesaid parallelism between the reflective surfaces and the line of li ht, since the same is satisfactorily covered in the said application No. 153,541 (Patent No. 744,387). But, without particular restriction to the precise or exact details of construction herein disclosed, nor limitation regarding the specific structure of the lamp or reflector in so far as they can be used separately in other relations, the statement of claim will be principally directed to covering their structural an functional adaptation to each other whereby the one is made to mad with the other and they jointly effect a new, useful, and technological result representing an advance in the art of lighting.

What I claim, and desire to secure by additional Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. The combination with a lamp having a casing or bulb translucent throughout, and provided with a filament the conductors of which extend laterally to the length of the lamp, of a reflector, and means for engaging the side of-the bulb adjacent to the reflector, said means terminating short of the circumference of the bulb.

2. A reflector having laterally-pro'ecting conductors, and a lamp having lateral y-projectin conductors, and means for engaging the side of the lamp adjacent to thc reflector and which terminates short of the circumference.- of the lamp.

3. The combination with a lamp translucent throughout its length and at.- cach end, the lamp being provided with a. filament. the ends of which extend laterally out through the. lamp body, of a reflector, means carried by the end portion of the reflector for removably connecting the end of the filament with a source of electrical energy, and separate resilient means supported by the first named means for clasping the lamp body and which terminates short-of the circumference thereof.

4. The combination with a filament lamp translucent throughout its length and at the ends. the sa-n'ic' being provided with contacts located laterally ot' the filament therein, of a reflector open at each end, an insulated support on the reflector located directly beneath the lamp, a yielding contact carried by the support and .adapted to engage the. lamp contact, and separate means also carried by the support and insulated from the contact for clasping the lamp and which ter minates short of the circumference thereof.

5. The combination, in a filament lamp the contacts of which are located laterally of the filament and in alinem'ent with the longitudinal axis of the lamp, of a reflector open at each end, supports carried by the reflector at points beneath and within a space equal to the length of the lamp, contacts carried by the su ports and engaging the lampcontacts, an clasping means in dependent of the contacts, said means car ried by and insulated from the supports and embracing the lamp, the contacts and supports being located between the lamp body and the "reflector.

6. The combination with a lamp, of a reflector comprising a body portion, a plurality of independent reflecting surfaces mounted on the body portion, and a dividing strip located between the reflecting surfaces for separating the plurality of surfaces and independently suppo'rt-ing the reflector sections.

7 L The combination with a tubular lamp, of a reflector comprising a body portion, a

I plurality of reflecting surfaces mounted thereon parallel with the lamp, and dividing stri s located between the central reflecting sur ace andthe reflecting surfaces on eac side thereof and independently supporting the reflector surfaces.

ed on t 1e reflector, a saddle located beneath v the lamp and straddling one of the reflector surfaces and attaching with the body ortion, and an insulated contact supporte on the saddle and en aging a lamp terminal, the saddle being exlble laterally with respect to the contact.

' 10. The combination with a filament lamp having lateral. terminals, of a reflector, a saddle supported on the reflector immediately beneath one of the lamp terminals, a post carried by the saddle, an apertured insulator, said post being received in the apertime in the insulator, a yielding contact also received-in said aperture, and insulation d1- viding the contact and post, the contact adapted to engagealamp terminal.

I 11. The combination with a filament lamp provided with lateral terminals, of a reflector, a (post suitably supported by the reflector an' carried by the post and en aging one of the terminals, and a resilient c ip encircling the post and extendin upward beside the contact, the upper en of the clip being adapted to embrace the lamp body.

12. The combination with a filament lamp havin lateral terminals, of a reflector, a suitab y supported contact located directly beneath the lamp and adapted to engage one of its terminals, and a resilient clip located adj cent to but separate from the contact, the clip being carried by the reflector and comprising a pair of curved divergent resilient arms adapted to snugly ras the lamp, and a clasp embracing an slidable on the arms to adjust them.

13. The combination with a tubular filament lamp having lateral terminals, of a reflector, a suitable support carried by the reflector and lo'cated directly beneath the lamp and in line with one terminal thereof, an insulator mounted on the support, a contact carried by the insulator and engaging said terminal, a clip mounted on the support, the insulator superposed upon the clip, the clip comprising diver ent resilient arms exlamp body.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' DENNIS JOSEPH ()l'lR-TEN.

' Witnesses:

CHAS. DORNBAGH, .A. H.-S TE. MARIE.

beneath the lamp body, a contact -tending upwardly an adapted to grasp the I 

